So, instead of playing the game, I sat down and wrote a rule book for the card game.

This rule book is free to edit and distribute. Should you wish to include it with the game, please do so. Should you wish to expand it with pictures and such, go ahead. Should you wish to use it as the basis for a .pdf or .html file, be my guest. Otherwise, I'll upload this as a guide on Steam, when the game becomes available there.

In Planet Stronghold: Colonial Defense you simulate a fight between two armies, using cards to represent units and actions taken during the fight. There are two players in each fight, a human player and an AI player. A player is referred to as the ”owner” of any given card that is played from that player's hand, or that is in that player's ”unit row.” Each player has a deck of cards that they bring to the battle; cards are drawn from this deck and may be played once they are in the player's hand.

2.0 VICTORY AND DEFEAT

Each fight will have different victory conditions that can be checked by pressing the ”Info” button on the battle screen. The human player will always have Hit Points, which are a measure of the player's remaining life. The AI player may or may not have Hit Points.

Typical victory conditions include:
- Reducing the AI player's Hit Points to 0.
- Surviving a given number of turns.
- Killing all of the AI player's units in their entire deck of cards.

Typical conditions for defeat include:
- Having the player's Hit Points reduced to 0.
- Having all the player's units in their entire deck of cards killed.

3.0 BATTLE SCREEN

In the upper left corner of the battle screen are two windows showing the AI player and the human player, along with their remaining/maximum Hit Points.

Next to these we see the remaining cards left in the deck (and in the hand and play areas combined in parantheses).

The battle screen then shows two rows, one for the AI player's units, the other for the player's units. There are seven spots for units on each side, once these spots are filled, no more units can be played on that side until one of the units in play is killed.

Under the unit rows is a button for redrawing cards in battle (see 5.0). Next to that we see the number of Resources under the human player's control and how much they will increase each game turn. These are used to pay for playing cards (see 5.0). On the far right we find the ”End Turn” button, which is used to pass the turn from the human player to the AI player (see 5.0).

At the bottom of the screen we see the human player's hand of cards. These are the cards available to be played during the human player's turn. There can be a maximum of 6 cards in a human player's hand, once that limit is reached, no new cards will be drawn.

In the bottom left there is an area to see a zoomed in version of any card that you hover the mouse pointer over, so that you can easily read the game text of the card. This can be used on both cards in hand and units in play.

4.0 CARDS

There are two types of cards in the game: Action cards and unit cards. They both have two things in common: Cost and rarity.

4.1 COST

A human player's card cost is shown at the top of the card, measured in a number of different Resources. These are Credits, Energy, Materials, and Personnel. These Resources are finite, once spent, they are gone. The human player earns a number of new Resources each turn though.

4.1.1 BOUNTY VALUE

The AI player does not have card costs, instead the cards have a Bounty Value shown at the top of the card. This indicates the number of Credit Resources the human player will earn for killing that card.

4.2 RARITY

All cards have a rarity level, indicated by the color of the gem found in the middle of the card. Rarity is used to determine certain card effects as well as the limit to the number of identical cards that may be included in the human player's deck (see 6.0). These rarity levels are:

White gem: Common, 3 identical cards may be put in the human player's deck.
Green gem: Uncommon, 2 identical cards may be put in the human player's deck.
Blue gem: Rare, 2 identical cards may be put in the human player's deck.
Purple gem: Epic, 1 of each card may be put in the human player's deck.
Yellow gem: Legendary, 1 of each card may be put in the human player's deck.

Legendary cards are not yet available for deck construction, these will be released with DLC.

4.3 ACTION CARDS

An action card is a card that is played for an immediate effect, then removed from the game. Action cards never enter play, so they may be played even though the player's unit row is full.

4.4 UNIT CARDS

Unit cards are played into a player's unit row. When a unit is played from the player's hand, it is said to be ”Summoned” - this is different from being ”put into play”, which may happen due to instructions on cards being played or already in play. Abilities and traits (see 7.0) that trigger on “entering play” will occur both when Summoned or put into play, while abilities with “On Summon” will only trigger when the card is played from hand.

A Summoned unit may be placed anywhere in the player's unit row, a unit that is put into play always enters the left most free space in the unit row. Regardless of how they came into play, units may not attack on the turn they enter play, unless they have the ”Charge” trait (see 7.0).

If a player's unit row is filled (7 units already in play), new units may not be played from the player's hand, and any unit being put into play due to card effects is lost, and never enters the play area.

4.4.1 UNIT STATS AND TRAITS

All units have two stats: Attack and Hit points. These are displayed in the bottom left corner and the bottom right one, respectively. Attack is the amount of damage the unit deals in combat. Hit Points is the amount of damage a unit can take before it is killed. If a unit at any time has 0 Hit Points, it is immediately killed.

Between Attack and Hit Points is a bar that shows any traits the unit has. Traits may or may not confer special abilities to the unit; these are described in detail in section 7.0.

4.4.2 HEALING AND GAINING HIT POINTS

Different cards may cause a unit to be healed or to gain Hit Points. Any unit being healed may not exceed its starting Hit Points. When a unit gains Hit Points, it MAY exceed its starting Hit Points!

4.4.3 UNIT UPGRADES

Units may be upgraded in the Deck Builder (see 6.1). All units start out as Bronze grade, but may be upgraded to Silver or Gold grade using stars earned by clearing main and side missions. Upgrades increase a unit's starting Attack and Hit Points.

5.0 TURN ORDER

Each player takes a full turn before passing to the next player. During the AI player's turn, it will play action and unit cards, trigger abilities on its cards in play, and attack the human player and/or units with its own units.

When the human player starts a turn, Resources are increased by a fixed amount (usually 1 each of Energy, Materials and Personnel). The human player draws a card, unless at the limit of 6 cards in hand. Any card effects that trigger at the beginning of the human player's turn will happen now.

During the human player's turn, each of these actions may be taken, in any order, and any number of times:

- Redraw Cards. By pressing this button, the human player shuffles the hand of cards into the deck and draws a new hand of one less card than originally held. This is useful if there are no cards in hand that can be played.
- Play a card. Pay its cost from your Resources, and place any unit played into the unit row.
- Attack with a unit that hasn't already attacked this turn.

When the human player presses ”End Turn”, any card abilities that trigger at the end of turn will take effect before the turn passes to the AI player. If the AI player has no units with the ”Wall” trait (see 7.0), all player units capable of attacking will automatically attack the AI player. Units with the ”Invisible” trait (see 7.0) will never attack automatically.

5.1 ATTACKING

Each unit that is eligible to attack will be flashing, so you can see what units are able to attack. By clicking the unit, you initiate an atttack. Choose a target from among the enemy units or the enemy player. There may be restrictions on what you can attack, depending on the traits of the cards in play (see 7.0).

When attacking, your unit will deal its Attack value in damage to the enemy's Hit Points. If attacking a unit, that unit will hit you back, dealing its Attack value to your unit's Hit Points. Any unit reduced to 0 hit Points will be killed. After reducing an enemy unit to 0 Hit Points, you will collect its Bounty Value (see 4.1.1) as Credit Resources.

Each of your units in play that are capable of attacking may attack once per human player turn, unless the card has the trait ”Double Attack” (see 7.0). A unit that has an Attack value of 0 cannot attack. A unit with the ”Stationary” trait (see 7.0) cannot attack.

Units may not attack on the turn they enter play, unless they have the ”Charge” trait (see 7.0).

If the AI player has been reduced to 0 Hit Points, you win the battle. If the AI player loses the last unit it had in its entire deck, you also win the battle.

If the human player is reduced to 0 Hit Points, you lose the battle. If the human player loses the last unit in its entire deck, you also lose the battle.

6.0 DECK BUILDER

Once you've cleared a number of main missions, you gain access to the Deck Builder. This is where you construct the decks of cards that you wish to play, from the cards available at any given time.

In the left row is a list of decks you've created. You may create new ones and delete obsolete decks as you wish.

You will always have access to a number of ”Empire” cards that can be used in all decks. In addition to these, you can choose cards belonging to specific heroes, by clicking their faces from the row at the top of the screen. You may choose a maximum of two heroes for each deck, and your main character must always be chosen as one of the heroes for decks used in the main missions. Some missions will require two specific heroes chosen for your deck. Note that you may choose to simply use only Empire cards, you do not have to actually include any cards belonging to the hero chosen for the deck.

As you progress through the story, new cards will be unlocked, according to their rarity (see 4.2).

There is a limit, both to the maximum number of cards you may have in your deck, and the number of each individual card you may have in a deck. The maximum number of cards in a deck may depend on the mission in question, while the number of individual cards is always capped by the card's rarity (see 4.2).

Once you have chosen your heroes for a deck, you may also click the ”Suggest Cards” button to create a deck mixed from the cards available.

6.1 UPGRADING UNITS

When completing a main or side mission, you will earn stars. These can be used to improve the stats of your unit cards. By right clicking any unit in the Deck Builder, you bring up a zoomed in version of the card, as well as a menu where you can spend 1 star to upgrade a unit from Bronze to Silver grade, 2 stars to upgrade a unit from Silver to Gold grade, or 3 stars to upgrade a unit from Bronze to Gold grade. Each upgrade will increase the unit's Attack or Hit Points, as indicated.

7.0 LIST OF TRAITS AND ABILITIES

Traits are both descriptors and abilities that a unit may have. They can be found at the bottom row of a unit card, between Attack and Hit Points. Abilities are found in the card text area; while most abilities are explained on the card, some may require further details. A complete list follows.

Anti Flying: This unit deals double damage to units with the ”Flying” trait.

Anti Organic: This unit deals double damage to units with the ”Organic” trait.

Anti Robotic: This unit deals double damage to units with the ”Robotic” trait.

Breach: When attacking, this unit is not forced to target units with the ”Wall” trait in play.

Building: All Buildings also have the ”Stationary” trait, and cannot attack.

Charge: A unit with the ”Charge” trait may attack on the turn it enters play.

Discount Organic: If a player controls a unit with this trait, all units with the ”Organic” trait cost 1 less of each Resource, except Credits, to play.

Discount Robotic: If a player controls a unit with this trait, all units with the ”Robotic” trait cost 1 less of each Resource, except Credits, to play.

Double Attack: Each turn, this unit may attack twice instead of once.

Flying: When attacking, this unit is not forced to target units with the ”Wall” trait in play.

Force Shield: A unit with a Force Shield will ignore all damage from the first source of damage that hits it, whether during an attack or due to a card ability or action card. The Force Shield is removed after this ability is triggered.

Infantry: This is a descriptor, referred to by other cards. It has no ability of its own.

Invisible: An Invisible unit cannot be chosen as a target of enemy attacks, abilities or action cards. If an Invisible unit attacks, it loses the ”Invisible” trait.

Marada: This is a descriptor, referred to by other cards. It has no ability of its own.

Matrick: This is a descriptor, referred to by other cards. It has no ability of its own.

On Death: This ability triggers when the unit is killed by damage or a card ability.

On Summon: This ability triggers only when the unit is played from the hand. A unit that is ”put into play” will not trigger ”On Summon” abilities.

Organic: This is a descriptor, referred to by other cards. It has no ability of its own.

Palidrayan: This is a descriptor, referred to by other cards. It has no ability of its own.

Robobrain: This is a descriptor, referred to by other cards. It has no ability of its own.

Robotic: This is a descriptor, referred to by other cards. It has no ability of its own.

Stationary: Stationary units cannot attack. They will still deal damage if attacked by the enemy though.

Stun: Any unit that is stunned may not attack until after its owner's next turn has ended. If a unit has the trait ”Double Attack”, it may not attack again this turn if it gets stunned on its first attack.

Wall: If a player has one or more Walls in play, one of these must be targeted by any attacking enemy unit. Units with the ”Breach” or ”Flying” trait may ignore this ability. All Walls also have the ”Stationary” trait, and cannot attack.

Last edited by Franka on Sat Dec 26, 2015 10:29 pm, edited 7 times in total.

Haha wow thanks I think will include it as html file, sort of read me. I could also include it in the game itself though.
As for the content will read it more carefully tomorrow but from what I've read seems OK!

Thanks for putting this together. Minor nitpick: introduction is spelled wrong in the table of contents.

May also want to mention invisible units will not auto-attack when ending your turn.

Franka wrote:Stun: Any unit that is stunned may not attack on its owner's next turn. It may still attack on the turn it becomes stunned (if, for example, a unit with the ”Double Attack” trait is stunned on its first attack).

Is that a bug? Seems like unexpected behavior that you can attack, be stunned, and immediately attack again.

Troyen wrote:Thanks for putting this together. Minor nitpick: introduction is spelled wrong in the table of contents.

May also want to mention invisible units will not auto-attack when ending your turn.

Franka wrote:Stun: Any unit that is stunned may not attack on its owner's next turn. It may still attack on the turn it becomes stunned (if, for example, a unit with the ”Double Attack” trait is stunned on its first attack).

Is that a bug? Seems like unexpected behavior that you can attack, be stunned, and immediately attack again.

Thanks, I'll update that plus I wanted to make a note about start of turn effects as well.

There were a couple of instances where I simply put down what actually happens in the game, regardless of what the intent may have been. If this is fixed/changed, I'll update the rule book to reflect the changes.